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Tuesday letters

Despite championing the voucher movement, I can’t understand how any member of the Legislature would vote for the expansion of vouchers.

Legislators say they believe in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), but at the same time, how can they be OK with voucher schools teaching creationism as science?

They say they want all of Florida’s kids to have great teachers, but that must mean unless your kid goes to a private schools that takes vouchers. Those teachers don’t have to be certified, let alone have a degree. Then how do we know how they are doing unless we can link them to a test? That is a terrible and an ineffective way of doing things, but the Legislature has reaffirmed it over and over again.

Then there is Common Core, which the Legislature says will save us all from mediocrity and allow our children to compete in the global economy — unless, of course, your student takes a voucher and goes to a private school. In fact, those schools don’t have to have any recognized curricula.

Voting for the expansion of vouchers goes against so many of their on-the-record positions that to do so would bring into question everything they say and to.

Hypocrisy should know some bounds.

CHRIS GUERRIERI

Teacher and publisher of Education Matters blog

Jacksonville

Don’t mess with

the benefits of an HMO

This is the downside to term limits. Nobody in the Legislature remembers anything, and history will therefore repeat itself. Let me help them understand the PPO/HMO issue.

It used to be that the cost per employee in the PPO was much higher than in an HMO, and we wanted to encourage employees to sign up for HMO coverage. The concept was that managing a person’s care and providing more preventative services would ultimately save money. Apparently it does save money, as the HMOs are able to offer more services to the employee for the same premium. The whole concept behind the HMO vs. the PPO is that, with an HMO, the risk is shifted to the HMO and the state is liable only for the premiums. Does this sound at all familiar to any of our legislators?

JUDY HEFREN

Jehefren@gmail.com

FCAT glitch casts

more doubt on testing

The recent Pearson online glitch during FCAT week is unacceptable and one of the many reasons students are as frustrated with school as their teachers and parents. Legislative leaders have refused to mitigate the punitive consequences behind its high stakes decisions.

The repeated glitches and problems associated with the FCAT process have raised serious concerns over the state’s ability to properly administer the new American Institutes for Research (AIR) test. Every school year, there has been some sort of FCAT or grading debacle. How will anyone know if the results from the tests are really valid?

Florida needs more time to make sure the new test is properly aligned with our new state curriculum and the accountability system is revamped. Teachers and students need more time to make the transition. We don’t want to wait until the next testing week to learn that we should have granted more than a one-year delay for schools and time for teachers and students to transition.

Before school districts can fully rely on digital training and online assessments, Florida will need to re-prioritize its commitment to upgrading school technology. Technology is constantly evolving. If testing is that important to state leaders, then it makes sense to have a paper-and-pencil option. These are only a few ideas from proposals still floating through the halls at the Capitol that could help.

FREDERICK HUSSEIN

husseinfrederic@netscape.net

When you experience

racism, speak up

Like most Americans, I was caught off-guard and was aghast at the conversation said to be L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling. As a boy in the 1960s, I grew up watching and hearing black men denigrated, talked to and talked about as if they were subhuman, but to hear a business owner talk about a race of people off of whom he has made millions is too much for me to stomach.

The nerve of a white man who obviously feels that it is OK to disparage black men if he is paying their salary. It makes me wonder if we have really turned the corner in this country.

It’s people like Sterling, still stuck in the ’60s, who give this country a black eye. That’s why I tell people of color, if you see something, say something. Meaning don’t be afraid, when you hear a racist remark, to say something. If you let it go unaddressed, you are allowing it to grow.

THE REV. LEE B. JOHNSON

President, SCLC Tallahassee Chapter

leebjohnson4@gmail.com

Are top IT grads

working for the state?

Re: “Job pipeline” (April 28, news article).

Doug Blackburn’s article on FSU’s computer science program was very good. One big question was not answered: How many of these top graduates that have computer science degrees are seeking and taking jobs in Florida state government? My guess is none.

In 1980, because the state government had such a hard time competing with private sector salaries, an across-the-board raise of 10 percent was given to all IT positions. Nothing significant has happened since. I retired in 2005 with more than 30 years in the IT field, from programming to project management, and my salary was always less than half of what it was in the private sector.

A guaranteed retirement plan and good health insurance helped keep IT people with the state. I am sure this is true for all college-degree required positions (engineers, doctors, lawyers, science specialists, etc). What is going to happen to the state professional workforce if the benefits of being an employee keep being cut and salaries don’t match private industry?